Whereas, the Associated Students of the University of Alaska Fairbanks has an opportunity to battle hunger and homelessness in Washington, D.C. through Alternative Spring Break (ASB), a three-year old program organized by the UAF Leadership Program,

Whereas, more than 16,000 people in Washington, D.C. are homeless during the course of one year, and the city has the widest income gap between rich and poor of any city in the country (the poorest fifth of D.C. residents earn an average of $6,126 a year while the richest fifth earn an average of 31 times that much at $186,830),

Whereas, thirteen students will spend their spring break learning the value of volunteer work and civic engagement and will be prepared to apply what they’ve learned about hunger and homelessness issues to our Fairbanks and Alaskan communities,

Whereas, the team will maximize their experience by visiting with Senator Murkowski and advocating on behalf of UAF while they are in the nation’s capitol,

Whereas, the ASB experience will cost $15,041 and the team members are each contributing $500 of their own money to participate in this volunteer experience (33% of total costs), the university is contributing $4,000 (27% of total costs), the Alumni Association is contributing $2,000 (13% of total costs), and the students need to fundraise the remaining $4,091 (27% of total costs) through an annual spaghetti feed, finals and Valentine’s Day bake sales, spare change collection, a silent service auction, grant applications, and a dance,

Whereas, for the past two years ASUAF has supported ASB teams,

Whereas, the ASB team is no longer eligible to apply for ASUAF travel funds,

Whereas, the ASB team would be proud to continue to list ASUAF as a major sponsor in its diverse publicity campaign,